Osprey at Carsington!

It doesn't matter how bad or good a day is going an Osprey is seen and all of a sudden the day vastly improves.
The day started with a Wheatear on the Dam Wall which was considerably more pleasurable walking than yesterday. A couple of Dunlin were in front of the Sailing Club and a Yellow Wag was nearby. I walked around to Sheepwash Hide but before I went in the hide I had a quick look at a nearby bay which had been pulling in some Waders. Nothing new here, just 3 Greenshank and a Common Sandpiper.

So it was off to Sheepwash where it was much of the same as Monday. Nice to see 6 Buzzards up though including a couple of juveniles. A brief visit from a Peregrine also lifted the spirits. I sat there for a while going through the Wildfowl every now and again to see if anything else had dropped in. At around 12.15hrs there were a few mainly LBB Gulls drifting in to the South of the reservoir....I was at the North end. I scanned through a few Gulls at distance and picked out a bird which I thought looked interesting. After a few seconds I realised it was an Osprey, I managed to get another couple of birders onto it as it drifted South and further away. The day couldn't really get much better after that and it just so happens it didn't.

What was noticeable today was the vast number of Swallows and Housemartins heading South. Impossible to estimate but 100's of each easily. Looks like all the Swifts have gone now, I Smell Winter! That must mean a classic from The Housemartins.

I don't like (Bank Holiday) Mondays

'The silicone chip inside my head was switched to overload'.

Not a massive fan of The Rats but I like this one and it was very apt once or twice today. 
It's not often I'll even venture past the garden gate on a Bank Holiday but with the weather a bit cool and blustery I thought Carsington Water was worth a punt.
The Dam Wall is a place which can often be unforgiving if it's cold or raining. Well today it was wet, cold and windy and felt like January as I made my way along the wall. It wouldn't be so bad if there was something to show but only a handful of Swallows and Pied Wagtails showed themselves. It was with much relief when I reached the safety of the sailing club and had shelter from the trees.

By the time I reached Stones Island it was already gone 09.00 and cars were already piling into the car park. A quick look around the Island and the only things of note was a couple of Little Ringed Plovers and a Yellow Wagtail. I received a text from a mate that a medium sized Wader had just flown past one of the hides but they weren't sure of the ID. Luckily I managed to catch up with it and ID'd it as a juvenile Knot.

More and more people were turning up so I made it to the relative safety of Sheepwash Hide. Well it was relative safety until the family from hell all piled in. The hide at Sheepwash is quite a big one and it needed to be as they commandeered nearly every bench. Out came the sandwiches, out came the crisps and out came the flasks of Mulligatawny Soup. Actually, I didn't mind the Mulligatawny Soup. A good half hour went by before they left me in peace. But it was a good few hours before everybody who entered the hide stopped asking 'can you smell Curry!'

Eventually I got back into birding and picked out 3 Greenshank on the far bank. Plenty of Wildfowl around now. Over 100 Teal, 9 Wigeon, c30 Gadwall, 2 Shoveler, 2 Pochard and a Red Crested Pochard. The adult Yellow-legged Gull (see post below) was there as usual. Around tea time I walked back to Stones Island which by now was fairly quiet. Stones is generally the place to be at this time of year as any Waders passing through will more often than not head for or fly past the Island. Lots of Gulls coming in to roost, lots of Swallows and quite a big Tit flock around the Island. A Knot which I presume was the bird from earlier flew past the Island as did a Ringed Plover. Just after 19.30 I was walking off the Island and heard a Wader calling. I never saw the bird although I'm fairly sure it was a Curlew Sandpiper.

Red Footed Falcon

This Red Footed Falcon turned up in Derbyshire a few months ago. The bird was very obliging often perching only yards away. Managed to get quite a few photos but this is probably the best. The second photo I think was taken by Nick Sismey (AKA China Birds on Bird Forum). The chap on the extreme right is R Pittam with a lense that even NASA would be proud of. I'm 3rd from the right just behind the chap in the blue t-shirt. Not sure why everybody is looking at the bird (apart from Nick who is obviously photographing us lot) but I'm not.

Even the Gulls were at it!

During recent events where you could pick up a Laptop for about £20 or for free if you were armed with a Baseball Bat, it seems that even our feathered friends were at it. If you've been offered Doritos at a reduced price then ring Crimestoppers. If they can't help then ring the RSPB and they will send out their top marksman.

Female Peregrine

I was sitting in the hide at Carsington when this beauty flew in and landed on the mud in front of the hide. I grabbed my camera and in the couple of seconds it was there I fired off a couple of shots. Not expecting great results I was chuffed when I seen this one.

Grey Heron

I don't take many good photos, not down to my ability but mainly down to my cheap, or crap, whatever you prefer setup. This however I was quite pleased with. It was taken at Wyver Lane earlier in the year.

Yellow-legged Gull

I'm not sure if I posted about this individual last year or not, but, he....and It is a he down to sheer size has been semi-resident for quite a few years now at Carsington. By semi resident I mean it tends to be on site from around late June or early July to around March. In the 9 months or so It's there it rarely leaves site and feeds on other Birds, Mammals, Fish and maybe the odd child. In fact, over the past few weeks at Carsi there have been several kids and adults totally ingoring the 'do not go past the sign' and wished the Gull would make another kill. This particular photo was taken shortly after it was seen to kill and devour an adult female Tufted Duck.  

Black Throated Diver

This was the chap I found at Carsington Water on May 18th this year. No doubt the same individual that was at Shustoke Reservoir which left there the same day it turned up at Carsington. It hung around for about 3 weeks before leaving for pastures new.

Sabbatical over!

Having had a year off from Blogging I thought it was about time I started up again. The real reason for not posting was the fact that last August my computer decided it had had enough. Frankly, so had I. So after over a month having to endure shite on TV a good friend came to the rescue and saved me from Celebrity Big Brother or whatever other crap was on this time last year.

Being 42 days I think it was behind after my last entry I just couldn't be arsed to start posting again. So my blog was confined to history.  Well a year on I'm back with no doubt more rubbish to bore everybody.
So, what has happened over the last 12 months I hear everbody excitedly asking. Well, more of the same really....a few surprises, a few lifers and many hours sitting in hides bored shitless.

One of the main highlights of the year was down Wyver Lane (my local patch) one misty day back in March. As ever, it wasn't producing much, that was until lunchtime in thick fog when 5 Avocets dropped in onto the main pool. Luckily they hung about all day giving a few Derbyshire birders chance of seeing them. Another highlight was finding a Black-throated Diver at Carsington Water on May 18th. I guess the surprise of the year at least for Derbyshire has to be the Western Bonellis Warbler that turned up in North Derbyshire. A first for the County and what turned out to be the longest staying one in the UK.

Carsington Water where I do most of my birding has been producing the goods even before Autumn migration got into full swing. Water levels are certainly the key and even back in July there was a site record 18 Common Sandpipers. So far this month there has been 20 species of Wader including Little Stint, Spotted Redshank, another site record of 17 Knot, and good numbers of Turnstone and Greenshank. Another highlight was seeing 19 Yellow Wagtails earlier last week. As I mentioned earlier water levels are the key and are at their lowest there for many years. As many of the regulars are predicting, September and October could be really good!